Tailpiece and bridge for zithers.



- No. 718,383. PATEN'EED JAN. 13, 1903.

P. REINHARD.

TAILPIEGE AND BRIDGE FOR ZITHERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1901.

H0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK REINHARD, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

TAILPlECE AND BRIDGE FOR ZITHERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,383, dated January13, 1903. Application filed February 26, 1901. $erial No. 48,906. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it incty concern:

Be it known that 1, FREDERICK REINHARD, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and Improved Tailpiece and Bridge forZithers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of the invention is to so con-- struct a tailpiece forzithers and like musical instruments that the bridge will be combinedwith the tailpiece, and, further, to provide the tailpiece with tonguesadapted to receive the loops of the strings, which tongues are in thesame plane with the surface from which they are struck out, the materialaround the tongues being pressed inward in conical form, so that theloops of the strings when placed upon the tongues are protected andprevented from opening,and wherebypins are done away with, space iseconomized, and the tone of the instrument is improved, as the bridge isa part of a firm support.

Afurther purpose of the invention is to so form the upper face of thecombined tailpiece and bridge that the strings after being secured tothe tongues on the tailpiece will have no further bearing thereon untilthe bridge is reached, but will have a firm and positive bearing uponthe bridge.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a detachable cover forthe combined tailpiece and bridge which will protect the strings wherethey are connected with the tailpiece.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a zithcr and a plan view of theapplied improvement, the cover being omitted. Fig. 2 is a side elevationof a portion of the zither, a part of one side being broken away and thecombined tailpiece and bridge being shown in transverse section,together with its cover. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one end of thecombined tailpiece and its cover, showing the manner in which the twoare connected. Fig.

4. is a front elevation of one end of the combined tailpiece and itscover; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of one of the tongues inthe tailpiece for the reception of a string, illustrating the manner inwhich a tongue is formed in the tailpiece.

A represents the body portion of the zither, and B the improved device,including a tailpiece and a bridge. This device Bis preferably made ofmetal, although other suitable material may be employed, and comprisesan upper inclined face 10, the inclination being downward in directionof the rear of the instrument, a rear member 11,which is attached to anend portion of the instrument, and a front member 12, which rests uponthe top of the instrument, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The front orupper face of the combined tailpiece and bridge is provided with aseries of tongues 14, facing rearwardly, which tongues are practicallyin the same plane as the upper face of the tailpiece, and, asillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the material 13 adjacent to these tonguesis struck downward, forming downwardly-extending conical concavities C,so that when a loop 18 of a string 17 is passed over a tongue 14 theloop will be protected by the conical concavity 0 below the tongue andwill not be liable to become loosened or to readily break.

At the forward or front edge of the tailpiece B a rib 15 is formed,which extends upwardly, and this rib 15 constitutes the bridge. Theupper face of the tailpiece B is more or less curved at 16 between thebridge 15 and the tongues 14, which latter are arranged in horizontalseries, as shown in Fig. 1, and by reason of this slight curvature inthe upper face of the tailpiece the strings do not have bearing on thetailpiece except at the tongues 14 and at the bridge 15; but on saidbridge 15 the strings bear positively and firmly.

It will be observed that the combined tailpiece and bridge has suchpositive bearing on the instrument as to promote the tone thereof andthat a string will sound clearly from the bridge. Furthermore, as thebridge and tailpiece are combined space is economized.

I desire it to be understood that instead of attaching the combinedtailpiece and bridge to a musical instrument in the manner stated thecombined bridge and tailpiece may be secured to the upper face of theinstrument in any well-known or approved manner.

At the outer end of the tailpiece B the upper vertical section 12 is cutaway, so that the upper face 10 of the said tailpiece extends at theends beyond the front piece, and these extensions 19 of the tailpieceare struck up in such manner as to provide offsets, as is particularlyshown in Fig. 1. These offsets are adapted for locking engagement with acover D. This cover is adapted to extend over all of the tongues 14 andthe depressions O beneath the said tongues and serves to prevent theloops 18 of the strings 17 from being tampered with. This cover Dextends the full length of the tailpiece and likewise extends over yetnot in engagement with the bridge 15, and at each end of the said coverD slideways 20 are formed, adapted to receive the upset sections 19 ofthe tailpiece, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4t. Preferably at each endslideway 20 a triangular downwardly-extending section 21 forms anintegral portion of the cover D, and these end extensions 21 of thecover rest upon the upper face of the instrument. The cover D may beremoved whenever it is desirable to replace a string or to investigatethe condition of any of the strings.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. A tailpiece for zithers and other musicalinstruments, provided at one longitudinal edge with a bridge and withtongues which are in substantially the same plane as the plane of theupper face of the tailpiece, the tongues being rearward of the saidbridge, and said tailpiece being provided with depressions arranged onebelow each tongue, for the purpose set forth.

2. A tailpiece for zithers and other musical instruments, provided atone longitudinal edge with a bridge and with tongues which are insubstantially the same plane as the plane of the upper face of thetailpiece, the tongues being rearward of the said bridge, and saidtailpiece being provided with conical depressions arranged one beloweach tongue, the upper face of the tailpiece upon which the tongues areformed being concaved, whereby when the loops of strings are received bythe said tongues the strings will engage positively with the bridgeintegral with the tailpiece but will not engage with the said tailpieceat points between the tongues and the bridge, for the purpose set forth.

3. A tailpiece for zithers or like musical instruments, provided with anintegral bridge located at its forward longitudinal edge, the ends ofthe tailpiece being upset and cut away at the front, a series of tonguesformed upon the upper face of the tailpiece at the rear of the bridge,each tongue being provided with a concavity produced in the tailpiecebelow it, and a cover for the said tailpiece and its combined bridge,which cover has sliding engagement with the end upsets of the tailpiece,as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK REINl-IARD.

l/Vitnesses:

J. FRED. AOKER, EVERARD BOLTON MARSHALL.

